A conventional bandage is a strip of fabric or other material used as a protective covering for a wound or other injury. Such a bandage typically includes a glue-like material which sticks the fabric or other material to the wounded area thus preventing the conventional bandage from inadvertently detaching from the wound.
In contrast to a conventional bandage, a conventional portable medical device typically requires a strap, a garment or a user to hold the device to a wounded area or area under test. For example, the sensor of conventional fetal monitoring equipment typically requires fastening to a pregnant woman's abdomen via pinned straps or Velcro® ties for proper positioning. As another example, light therapy devices are often placed in a garment (e.g., a cap or sleeve) which must be worn or laid on in order for the light therapy devices to be properly positioned.
Furthermore, due to the bulkiness and largeness of the electronic circuitry associated with the portable medical devices, the typical design approach is to move the electronic circuitry out of the devices themselves and into external processing circuits (e.g., external computers). Typically, the external processing circuits require a separate housing in order to protect and support the processing circuits (e.g., a rigid container to enclose a delicate circuit board having mounted circuit board components, etc.).